Another tough day on the Big Lake

Lake Michigan - November 9, 2009

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US Army Corp of Engineers working on the lake

I hit Lake Michigan again on Monday the 9th. This time I took Al Bernicky with me. Al has been out there many times before, and caught countless Lake Trout, and other big fish out there. He is one of the best fishermen I know and knows several different ways to catch fish out there.

We had everything with us that has caught Lake Trout before out there including tubes, crank baits, spinners, dipseys, dodgers, spin-n-glows, and more... Nothing worked.

Al catches a Goby on the Dipsey-Dodger-Spin-n-Glow rig

We thought it was strange that no one else was out looking for Lake Trout. There was a north wind forecast, but the lake was calm with a southwest wind. We wondered if the wind forecast kept everyone away, or maybe the Lake Trout were done early. We saw a couple boats come out to do some perch fishing but all we saw them catch were small ones.

First Goby of the day

We decided we'd harass the Gobies. Gobies are very aggressive and will hit just about anything they think they can swallow. They are an invasive species and it is illegal to have live ones in your possession. We caught them on twister tails and 1/2 oz to 3/4 oz jig heads. Every time we'd get the jig near the bottom, we'd feel the fish attack. We lost count of how many caught.

Me with another Round Goby

I even caught a small perch. The big ones should start showing up soon.

A Yellow Perch

The wind turned around and began to blow out of the north. We started to see a few more Lake Trout on the surface so we quit messing around with the little fish and went back to trying to catch what we went out there for in the first place.

Round Goby

Despite the wind blowing straight out of the north, the lake remained fairly calm. I've been out there in years past when the wind has turned around and before I knew it, I'd be surrounded by 10 foot swells while I carefully made my way back to the mouth of Burns Ditch.

The North Wind beginning to add a slight chop to the water

Once we finished our last pass along the reef, we decided to call it a day. The highlight of the day was when Al spotted a giant King Salmon by the boat ramps. Too bad it had been dead for quite a while.

Tough day on Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan - October 29, 2009

Leaving the Boat Ramps

When I got to the boat ramps I was surprised to see an almost full parking lot. That would normally be unusual for a Thursday this time of year, but the Lake Trout were in and they're only in for a limited amount of time. You have to wait for a south wind to make the lake calm enough to safely go out there so when that window opens up, you have to take it.

Burns Ditch

I put the boat in the water and fished my way down Burns Ditch to the lake. In the past I've caught Largemouth Bass and King Salmon in there, but not today. As I made my way down the ditch, I noticed a lot of new construction. I didn't make it out on the big lake last year at all and was surprised to see a new walkway along the west shoreline.

New Walkway

The walkway was extended all the way out to the rocks that protect the mouth of the ditch from the monster waves that can develop quickly out there.

You can walk all the way out to the lake

Once I made it out to the reef, I started fishing for the lakers the way I've done in the past. They didn't want anything to do with my offerings. I saw a lot of fish caught, but I don't have down-riggers or the other gear that folks were catching them on. That was ok though because I was able to watch and learn. Every now and then a big Lake Trout would surface near me which told that my day will come. It just wasn't going to be today.

Me with a Lake Trout from the past

The lake was fairly calm since the break wall that protects the port was protecting us from the strong south winds that were picking up. By the time noon rolled around, it was blowing pretty good and there were plenty of white caps. I decided to head in without a fish to show for my efforts. Maybe next time they'll be interested in what I was throwing at them.

Starting to get rough

Lake Michigan is amazingly clear these days thanks to the zebra mussels. You can see a crank bait 10 feet down whereas you're lucky to see the same lure 10 inches down in most of the other water I fish.

Portage Public Marina